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April 27, 2025

At two recent hackathons, teams of Olin students placed high in the competitions and made positive impacts with their innovative projects tackling real-world challenges through human-centered design.

One hackathon, based around "Building for Ukraine," was co-sponsored in January by  and , and the other event, the week-long 2025  Hackathon, connected Boston-area college students with co-designers to iterate, design, reiterate and fabricate assistive technology devices to help address a variety of needs to help people participate in life to their fullest. 

In both competitions, �ǿ����޴�ý undergraduates played a vital role, successfully applying their engineering educations and passion toward helping people to rebuild and live better lives. 

Building for Ukraine: A Hackathon with a Mission

Timur Gray, a first-year mechanical engineering major, first became interested in humanitarian demining - the process of clearing land of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) to protect civilians and facilitate their return to normal life - in January, when he took an Independent Activities Period class at MIT called “Build for Ukraine.”

"Being born in Ukraine and still having connections to the country, I had always wanted to support its recovery in any way I could. That opportunity started to become real when I came to Olin and began to learn how I could apply my engineering education toward helping them to rebuild," says Timur '28.

Also in January, MIT-Ukraine’s was held, with no cash prizes, no competition, just students and tech professionals coming together to first attend lectures for 1-week, then forming teams and working for a 3-week sprint to address key challenges currently faced by Ukraine. 

Organizers stretched the hackathon out over four weeks, with the goal of "creating real, meaningful outcomes," says Hosea Siu, Ph.D., the hackathon director and a seasoned hackathon organizer and AI researcher. 

When it came time to form teams around the obstacles explored in the lectures, Timur chose an area where he believed he could make the most difference. 

Simplifying Safety: Tackling the Cost and Clarity of Demining Ukraine

"I chose to focus on demining Ukraine because it’s a field where the problems are clearly defined, and I felt it was where I could make the greatest difference," says Timur. 

He started by reaching out and speaking with people who had expertise in the area and learned that most information about landmines was locked behind technical language or long PDF documents.

"To make knowledge about landmines more accessible, especially to non-technical or uninformed audiences, I created a website that simplified and consolidated safety information," says Timur. "I also worked with a few groups to create a detailed and accurate description of the types of landmines currently found in Ukraine," he added.

While researching the latest developments in demining technology, and strategizing how students could most effectively support innovations in that area, Timur discovered a striking issue: the cost of current demining technologies.

"Much of the innovation in this field focuses on developing advanced autonomous vehicles capable of operating in extreme conditions. While these solutions are technically impressive, they’re often prohibitively expensive for many organizations that are actively working in demining, but have limited budgets." 

This opened his eyes and at the same time presented a clear opportunity: instead of designing the most complex system possible, tools and technologies should be created from the start to be affordable and accessible.

"This philosophy aligned closely with Olin’s approach of “Engineering for Everyone.” I spoke with small organizations working on adapting existing tools and infrastructure for demining and saw how impactful low-cost, practical solutions could be. It showed me that better design isn’t just about more features—it’s about usability, affordability, and accessibility," says Timur.

Asked how fellow Olin students might be able to help contribute to the demining efforts, half-a-world-away, Timur believes Olin is primed to leverage its dynamism and model of teaching and learning engineering to affect change.

"At Olin, we’re in a unique position to contribute to the solution through our strong emphasis on prototyping, project-based learning, and community-focused design. Our ability to work on affordable, accessible technology is especially valuable in these types of spaces," says Timur.

In addition, and coming full circle back to the collaborative nature of hackathons, Timur says "we’re also surrounded by other universities with diverse skill sets, making meaningful interdisciplinary collaborations possible."

What's Next

All the projects developed during the hackathon, including Timur's, will be considered as potential avenues for MIT’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and MISTI Ukraine summer internship programs. Timur is also working on a second, updated version of his website, which he hopes to have available soon. 

If you’re interested in contributing or even just learning more, Timur says he'd be happy to talk or connect people with helpful resources.

Hacking for Better Accessibility at IATH 2025

At this year's Intercollegiate Assistive-Technology Hackathon (IATH) - a week-long collaborative event pairing individuals with disabilities with Boston-area college students to work as co-designers, two first-year Olin students were part of a team that won the for their wearable assistive technology. 

Navya Tiwari '28 and Anika Mahesh '28 worked with community co-designer, Phil, a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) user, to design a wearable system that enhances both comfort and accessibility for individuals relying on a LVAD.

"Partnering with OTD (Doctor of Occupational Therapy) students from Tufts and MGH-IHP, we developed a functional, user-centered solution that prioritizes real-world usability," says Navya, a first-year electrical & computer engineering major. "Our design addressed key challenges such as controller accessibility, subtlety in concealing wires, and creating a more practical and comfortable carrier." 

Weight distribution was a major consideration, as the LVAD and its batteries can weigh between 7 to 14 pounds, so the team also prioritized driveline integrity to ensure the device remained secure while allowing for ease of movement. For the material selection they incorporated a hoodie-based design with layered fabrics and internal pockets to keep the LVAD taut against the body.

Sketches to Solutions

Iterating and reiterating is a key part of the IATH hackathon, with the LVAD team refining several aspects of their original design.

"We adjusted battery placement to improve balance and comfort, optimized access points in the pockets for usability, and fine-tuned the fabric drape for better wearability," says Anika, a first-year electrical & computer engineering major. 

Winning the Most Functional Award for their final design was thrilling, though, the whole IATH experience, say the Oliners, felt like genuine validation of what thoughtful, human-centered design can accomplish. 

"Working with a LVAD user made me step outside the classroom and consider how our design would work in real life. We had to think about comfort, usability, and the everyday realities of living with a medical device. Partnering with students from MGH-IHP and Tufts brought in new ideas and perspectives, which really strengthened the design," says Navya.

Anika adds that the experience of having to balance the opposing forces of designing for a group vs. designing for a person was interesting and insightful. 

And they both say their first year at Olin has substantially helped to sharpen their communication and design skills.

"We relied greatly on what we had learned from Olin about teamwork, iteration, and listening carefully to real user needs. In the end, knowing that our work would actually help someone made the experience really worth it,” says Navya '28.

In a week fueled by empathy, innovation, and iteration, these first-year Oliners didn’t just build a prototype — they built a bridge between thoughtful design and real human impact.